POTSDAM -- Acclaimed author and youth advocate Wes Moore will speak at Clarkson University on Sunday, Sept. 20, at 7 p.m. in Cheel Arena.

Moore is an Army combat veteran, social entrepreneur, and host of "Beyond Belief" on the Oprah Winfrey Network. A book signing will precede the event from 6 to 6:30 p.m. in the Cheel Campus Center's Parents Lounge.Both events are free and open to the public.

Moore is a veteran, Rhodes Scholar and the founder of BridgeEDU. His most recent book is “The Work: My Search for a Life That Matters.”

Moore’s first book, “The Other Wes Moore,” is a story of mentorship and support networks that refused to let him fall into crime and drugs. It tells the tale of two kids with the same name living in the same decaying city.

One grew up to be a Rhodes Scholar and White House Fellow after serving in the 82nd Airborne Division of the US Army. The other is serving a life sentence for killing a police officer during an armed robbery.

Moore's second book is “The Work: My Search for a Life That Matters.”.

From a difficult childhood to an adult life that would find him at some of the most critical moments in recent history: as a combat officer in Afghanistan; a White House fellow in a time of wars abroad and disasters at home; and a Wall Street banker during the financial crisis.

Their widowed mother raised Moore and his sisters. Despite early academic and behavioral struggles, he graduated Phi Theta Kappa in 1998 as a commissioned officer from Valley Forge Military College, and Phi Beta Kappa from Johns Hopkins University in 2001, where he also played football and earned a bachelor’s degree in international relations. He then became a Rhodes Scholar, studying international relations at Oxford University.

After his studies, Moore, a paratrooper and captain in the United States Army, served a combat tour of duty in Afghanistan with the 1st Brigade of the 82nd Airborne Division. He then served as a White House fellow to Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice. He serves on the board of the Iraq Afghanistan Veterans of America, the Johns Hopkins University, and founded an organization called STAND! that works with Baltimore youth in the criminal justice system.

The student group SPECTRUM sponsors Moore’s presentation.